Piras
by DaeDae22
Summary: Had to repost a few times. But this is a story of five years after the defeat of Firelord Ozai. The gang hasnt seen each other since and they finally reunite. Aang/Katara/Zuko love triangle.
1. Chapter 1

**I don't own any of the Avatar Characters, although I think they are amazing. **

It had been months since I had thought of him. After all, it was easier not to and life moved on. Sometimes his smile would sink into my memory, and I could see that boyish glint in his eyes as he moved steadily toward me, hand outstretched. And then it was us against the world again, him and me connected in a way that I was certain no one had ever been connected before. Sometimes it was his voice that swirled around my unconsciousness during sleep and wove itself into my soul.

But then, that was only sometimes, during my weak moments and I didn't have many of those. It had been five long years since Firelord Ozai had been defeated and the world had been restored to its former glory. Five long years since Sokka and I had returned to the Southern Water Tribe, determined to do all we could to help our fallen people. It had made sense at the time for us all the separate. After all, the Water Tribe needed Sokka and I, the Fire Nation needed Zuko, Toph's mother and father needed her, and the world needed Aang. How could any of us had known that it would be so long before we saw one another again?

In the beginning my eyes were constantly turning to the horizon, waiting and hoping to see Appa coming towards us on the wind, bringing to me the only missing part to my soul. But he never came, and I never asked him to. I was a woman now, no longer the child I had been when I had returned home, and I understood now. Aang was the Avatar. He had obligations to fill and none of those obligations had anything to do with the Southern Water Tribe.

Sokka and I heard from Toph and Zuko from time to time. Toph hadn't changed, only grown up and the last time I had seen her I was in awe at how beautiful she had become. Zuko was still Zuko. He had his responsibilities to the Fire Nation and its people, but he never stopped writing, never stopped asking Sokka and I to come home. I honestly didn't believe that Zuko would ever understand that the Fire Nation had never been home for us.

We had heard little of Aang. It seemed the Avatar moved on so quickly that it was impossible to pinpoint where he was at any exact moment. Sokka had been insulted in the beginning from Aang's lack of contact, as had I. But we understood now. Our friend couldn't spend his entire life simply being our friend when he had a job to fulfill.

It didn't dispel the memories though. Those beautiful memories that had suddenly become painful once we were separated.

I shook my head to stop the filter of thoughts sifting into my head, and pushed aside the animal hide that served as a door to mine and Gran Gran's tent. Sokka had his jobs in the tribe, and had become known as our best warrior, waterbender or not. I also had my own duties to fulfill, but the child in me liked to shirk them now and then. Like now.

I dashed around the side of the tent and trudged into the snow covered mountains beyond our village. As I walked, I rotated my hand in a circular motion sending a trail of snow floating into the air and following me as I beckoned. This gift was all I had now. This connection to the formlessness of water and the life it could bring. It healed me. Made me whole again.

I stopped when I felt I was far enough away from the village to not be discovered. I pushed one leg out and bended one knee, posed my hands into the proper position, and began. Snow swirled around me into a tiny tornado as I worked with my hands to create works of art in the sky. I willed the snow to melt and become liquid and it obeyed under my careful instruction. I felt the most alive whenever I practiced my waterbending. In the beginning, when I had first returned to the Southern Water Tribe, waterbending had been painful for me. I first learned to practice this art efficiently with Aang and it had been something he and I had shared. To begin waterbending alone every day has been almost physically strangling but I had pushed myself through it. And now, after five years it was a release again and brough peace over me.

I felt a small smile tug at the corners of my mouth as I sent a fountain of waves into the air and willing the showering droplets to turn to snowflakes and drift to the ground. When I succeeded I let out a gust of air and fell to my knees in exhaustion. I hadn't eaten enough that day, and waterbending wore me out now and then. When I began to focus I noticed Sokka to my right, clapping his hands. He had followed me. Again.

"Sokka!" I groaned, standing awkwardly.

My brother had grown into a very tall and strong young man. Though his hair was the same, and his eyes held the same mischievous glint they always had, he was stronger; Wiser; And quite the hot commodity among the women in the Southern Water Tribe.

"what?" he asked innocently. "it was good."

I glared and stomped towards him, spraying up snow around me in my frustration. "I've asked you repeatedly not to follow me."

Sokka smiled sheepishly. "I know. But this time it is for a reason, Katara."

I fought to control my temper, something I had always had a problem with. However, it simply never worked when it came to my meddling older brother. "What! What could possibly be so important that you have to interrupt my training time?" I asked, throwing my hands up in the air and dousing us with snow in the process.

Sokka brushed the mound of snow that had just settled there off of his shoulder. "Calm down. Your going to bury us in a snow drift."

I sighed. He was most likely right. "What, Sokka? What is it?" I asked, more calm now.

"We have a visiter!" He said excitedly. He looked again like the boy he had been when we returned. Barely a man, and already he had seen battle. Hard to believe he could maintain such innocence still.

When my mind wrapped around his words, my heart soared. Had Aang finally come? I was speechless, could hardly bring myself to ask and be disappointed.

Sokka was waiting for my answer, but I simply couldn't bring myself to give it to him.

"Okay." He finally said, sounding confused. "He wants to see you, Katara."

"He?" I croaked, my throat tightening. Could it really be him? The years stretched out before me, so long and never ending they had been for me. How wretched it had been to never see his face, hear the musical chime of his voice.

Sokka smiled. "Hurry!" he yelled as he dashed in the direction of the village, pulling me with him. I couldn't help but smile at his child like enthusiasm. We reached Gran Gran's tent in minutes and I gazed in shock at the Fire Nation ship before me. What had once brought fear and left pain in its wake now just brought a sense of joy. I darted into the tent, barely able to contain myself. I prayed and prayed that it would be him, wondering for a moment if I would even recognize the man he would be now.

The cold slithered over my entire body, causing a shiver that began inside my chest and raked out over all my limbs. I hadn't felt such biting cold in so long and my body didn't welcome it. I clapped my hands together and shuffled my feet, trying to bring as much warmth to my frozen body as I could. The sound of feet sloshing through the wet snow could be heard outside the tent, and I immediately straightened my back, and placed my arms at my sides.

Could I face them? Of course they had once all been friends, but that was long ago. Had loyalties changed? Had they changed? I pushed both those thoughts and the cold from my mind, concentrating on the tent flap just as it began to open.

Sokka rushed through first, pulling someone behind him. I nearly smiled at the same boyishly excited look that painted his features, even after all these years. He was nearly as tall as I was now, and that caught me by surprise. Sokka had grown up.

"Zuko?" Katara was standing next to him and it took me moment to realize it. She was different now. I couldn't place how, but she was. She wore the same blue Water Tribe clothes I remembered, and her mother's betrothal necklace rested at her throat. I shivered as I remembered when I had once used the necklace to track her down like a dog. Amazing that they had welcomed me five years ago, and amazing that they welcomed me now.

I stepped forward and allowed myself to smile slightly. I couldn't believe how she had grown. She was a woman now and confidence radiated from her. Her hair was as dark and long as it had always been, only now she wore it braided over her right shoulder, with blue beads strung throughout the dark tresses. Her eyes were the same, although less innocent.

"Zuko!" Sokka interrupting my thoughts, clapped me on the back. "Tell us everything. Literally everything, my friend."

I was pushed into a sitting position next to the fire that rested in the center of the tent. Katara and Sokka sat down themselves, both of them watching me as though I was going to disappear any second. What to tell them? They would be bored with Fire Nation business and it seemed that was all he had to attend to these days. Of course, he had five years of things to fall back on.

"How is Toph?" Katara asked, suddenly.

"Oh…Toph is fine. She returned to the Fire Nation a few years ago." I stammered.

"Toph came back?" Katara asked in astonishment.

I nodded. "With her mother and father."

Sokka leaned forward. "What else?"

"Oh Sokka, just ask if you want to ask." Katara snapped.

Sokka glowered at her and I realized their relationship was one thing that hadn't changed a bit.

"What about Aang?" Sokka finally asked.

I inwardly winced. I should have known where this line of questioning would go. I wasn't the only one who had heard the way Aang had abandoned Katara after the defeat of my father. Sure, she had made her decision to return home for awhile for her people and for her grandmother, but it was well known that in five years, Aang hadn't seen her or spoken to her. I really didn't want to be caught in the middle, but that's what being in this group had always been. They all got way too involved in each other's lives.

"Zuko, please tell us. He's all right, isn't he?" Katara whispered.

I nodded instantly. "Of course, he's all right!" They both sighed in relief.

I mumbled something quickly and then stood up. "All right, I'm ready to eat!" I patted my belly loudly.

Katara jumped up in a movement far too graceful. She really had changed. "Wait, what did you just say?" she demanded.

"Me?" I looked around innocently.

"Aang is in the Fire Nation?" Sokka asked, quietly.

Damn my mumbling. Apparently I whispered like an elephant. "Uhh…yes. Yes, he is."

Katara was suddenly in front of me, her eyes glinting and very close to my own. "Why are you really here?"

I sighed. This was probably Aang's worst idea in a long, long time. Literally. "I've come to bring you back." I paused at their wide eyed stares before I hurried on. "Aang asked me to bring you back."


	2. Chapter 2

**I don't own any of the Avatar Characters, although I think they are amazing. **

KATARA

It was easy to say no. I never imagined that if given the opportunity to see Aang again I would turn it away. The difference was is that I wouldn't do it this way. Not like this. I hadn't seen or spoken to Aang in years and instead of coming for me himself, he sent Zuko? It just didn't make sense. He didn't sound like Aang. Not my Aang.

"Katara?" Zuko asked, his voice gentle. But how? The Zuko I knew was never gentle and at this moment I needed him to be himself; The old Prince Zuko who would bite your head off for the slightest transgression. That Zuko was familiar to me. But this was Firelord Zuko. The man he had taught himself to be all those years ago when he been thrust onto the throne of the Fire Nation when he was barely more than a child.

"Stop it, Zuko!" I finally snapped. "Just knock it off."

Anger flashed into his eyes. "Stop what?" he asked.

At least I was getting somewhere. "Knock it off with the whole "I'm the Firelord, I bring peace" bull. That's not you. And I feel that somewhere in all of this someone should stop pretending."

Zuko jumped up and sent a chilling glare my way. "You have no idea who I am anymore, Katara! But I can see your holier-than-thou attitude hasn't changed."

My attitude? I couldn't believe he was even saying this. Admittedly, he was finally acting they way I had wanted, but I didn't imagine he would start insulting me in the process. "That is not how I act!" I yelled back, very much aware that we sounded like the teenagers we had been the last time he and I had seen one another.

"That is exactly how you act, Katara." He retorted. I noticed suddenly that there were slight sparks flying from his fingertips. Surprising that I had somehow made him that angry without even trying much. Prince Zuko must still be alive and kicking beneath his Firelord façade.

"I don't have to listen to this." I answered, stomping toward the door. I only now realized that Sokka was still here, watching us wide eyed. I chose to ignore him. "And you can tell Aang that we're not coming!"

"You're not coming?" Zuko spluttered. "But you have to!"

I turned and smiled at him. "I don't have to do anything. You may rule the Fire Nation, Zuko but in case you've forgotten this is the Water Tribe. Your commands mean nothing here." Then suddenly I was running. Running from Zuko, from Sokka; from every memory I had of Aang. I needed to dispel them from my head and my heart; I needed to rid myself of all of it and move on.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

ZUKO

"Can you believe this?" I roared, stomping out of the igloo tent, lest I melt anything. I had become very good at controlling my anger, but this? I wasn't sure how to handle this.

"Calm down, Zuko." Sokka said, following me outside. "You have to see this from her point of view. Aang abandoned her. He may not see it that way and you may not see that way, but he did. You're not the one who has had to spend the last five years looking into her eyes and knowing that she isn't the same. That she's broken."

His words hit home. She was in pain. I could see it now, the change in her that I hadn't been able to recognize earlier. Katara was barely a shadow of what she had been before, and now I could see it. Could see it in the way she had moved when I first seen her. Like every move she made was heartbreaking and painful. Like there was something missing to her soul. I groaned and felt the heat in my finger tips seep out into the cold wind as my anger subsided.

"Zuko, can you explain something to me?" Sokka asked, folding his arms across his chest and leaning against the igloo.

"What?" I sighed. I knew what was coming, but I didn't have an answer for him.

"Why you? Why didn't Aang come for us himself? And why is it so important that we go? After five years of no word he suddenly needs to see us. I'm not stupid. He wants something from us." Sokka sat there a moment, puzzled. "It just doesn't seem like Aang. To use us like that. But it didn't seem like him to disappear. So I don't think I should be surprised.

I winced. Aang wasnt as different as they really believed. Sokka and Katara may not realize how it pained him to be away from her, but I did. I had seen it firsthand. I had never been able to forget the hollow look in his eyes when he had watched the Fire Nation ship taking Katara away from him sail away. He hadn't left his room for days afterward and I had remembered thinking there was no way a thirteen year old boy could know anything about love. But Aang knew more of love than I ever had. I just hadn't realized it then.

"Sokka, he isn't using you. He's the Avatar. He couldn't come himself because he has things he needs to do." I raked my fingers through my hair. I didn't think he would know I was lying because Sokka had just never been that observant, but I couldn't be sure. I couldn't tell them my real reasoning for being here.

Sokka shook his head ruefully. "Okay Firelord. Keep your secrets. I'll talk to Katara, but keep in mind that I won't force her to go. And if she doesn't go, I'm not going." He turned on his heel and disappeared into the snow, the sky darkening in front of him.

This was not going according to plan. I needed out of this village, away from all the stares of the Water Tribe. Most of these people had not forgotten what the Fire Nation had done to them. What I had done to them. I didn't feel welcome here.

I made my way back to my ship, trying and failing to keep the images out of my head. I couldn't shake the look in her eyes when she'd seen me. She had been expecting to see Aang, to see her other half and it had only been me. And what had I done? Immediately upset her. I couldn't go back without Katara. There was no way I could possibly get around it. Aang had trusted me to bring them back, and I had to do it. He needed her. We needed her.

But now all I could see was her pain. And suddenly I was angry. Angry at Aang for doing this to her in the first place. I knew he loved her, God how he loved her. But you didn't do this to someone you loved. And you certainly didn't do this to someone like Katara.

I turned and sprang into the air and kicked out, flames swirled outward, the snow and ice sizzling under the heat. I punch and kicked, my muscles bunching pleasantly as I perfected every firebending move I made. The flames provided chaos and a part of me as a firebender reveled in it. All my anger at Aang, Katara, and myself shot of my hands and into the sky leaving me reeling and almost euphoric. Firebending wasn't a part of who I was; firebending was me and every move I made, every flame that licked out into the air was a part of me, the part that embraced my anger and made me bloodthirsty, leaving my body and then I could breathe again. The strangling rage was gone and now all I saw was my duty. What I had to do. I turned away from my ship and sprinted back into the village.


	3. Chapter 3

**I don't own any of the Avatar Characters, although I think they are amazing. **

***Sorry about the shorter chapter. I was having a hard time writing this for some reason. The next one will be much longer.***

KATARA

I don't remember how far I ran, nor how long. I only remembering running until my legs felt rubbery and my breath was coming out in small gasps. I thought of waterbending for a moment, until I realized I couldn't. Not without thinking of Aang. I gritted my teeth, resenting Zuko and his coming here. He had taken away the one thing I had after I had worked so hard to gain it back.

Every notion I had ever had of Aang had been challenged and now there was no going back. The agony was almost overwhelming.

_Aang placed his hand on my own, staring it my eyes with a slight smile painting his features. We turned, dancing, the rest of the world blurring around us, though I couldn't shake the feeling of being watched. _

"_Aang, everyone's watching." I whispered. _

"_Don't worry about them." His smile widened, his eyes sucking me in. "It's just you and me right now."_

_And in that moment, it was only us; He and I, our hands together. We were everything, the entire world was gone and we were all that mattered. He was all that mattered. _

I shook my head and stood. This was over, it had to be over. I couldn't do this to myself anymore.

"I'm going to let you go, Aang." I whispered aloud. "I don't have any other choice anymore. I'm letting you go." And then the world was black. My vision was gone and I could feel myself being lifted into someone's arms as they strode away.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

ZUKO

I knew I was reverting back to my old ways. I knew taking someone by force wouldn't ensure that they were on your side, but I really didn't have any other choice. Regardless of the fact that I disagreed with the way Aang had chosen to handle things, I owed him this. He had saved me once, and I owed him. He had asked, no _pleaded, _for me to bring back Sokka and Katara and I was not going to let him down. Not this time.

I instructed my soldiers to bring Sokka and Katara to my rooms. It made more sense to take them there. They weren't prisoners after all and it wouldn't have made sense for me to take them to the hold. My only plan was to keep them busy long enough to get the ship far enough out to sea; after all I had to put Katara's waterbending into consideration. That girl had trained in waterbending with the Avatar from one of the best waterbending masters in the world. There was no way I couldn't put her into consideration.

I waited until I knew they were already in my chambers before I entered. I knew I was being a coward, not ready to face their anger, although I had faced it many times before. But it wasn't just that. I couldn't face her anger again. I couldn't see that look of betrayal I had seen before.

"_It's ok. I used to think this scar marked me. The mark of the banished prince, cursed to chase the Avatar forever. But lately, I've realized I'm free to determine my own destiny, even if I'll never be free of my mark."_

"_Maybe you could be free of it." She said softly. _

_I was surprised by this admission. "What?"_

"_I have healing abilities."_

"_It's a scar. It can't be healed." I answered. I had given up on ridding myself of this symbol long ago.; This symbol of my father's displeasure and a symbol of my failure. _

_Katara put her hands to her neck, where a vial hung on a small chain. "This is water from the Spirit Oasis at the North Pole. It has special properties, so I have been saving it for something important." Katara strode up to me, her stance confident. "I don't know if it would work, but…" And then she placed her hand to my cheek. _

The memories coursed through my body like blood in a vein, making me shudder. I had betrayed her only moments afterward, taking Azula's side over theirs. I had betrayed all of them so many times; I had to make amends for what I had done, and I was doing it now, by helping Aang.

I stepped into the room, bracing myself for their reactions. To my surprise they both stayed in their positions on the floor and stared at me.

I patted my sides awkwardly. "Look, I-" Before I could finish my sentence my body was thrown against the wall, water coursing over me and leaving me breathless. I jumped to my feet, wiping my eyes and spluttering. Katara had used her waterbending on me and I hadn't even seen it coming.

"This is ridiculous!" I shouted once I could see again.

"Yes, it is!" Katara shouted back. "You kidnapped Sokka and I!"

Sokka leaned back against the wall and threw his arms lazily behind his head. "Just like old times, eh Zuko?"

I shook my head. "I didn't have any other choice. You have to understand that."

"There's always another choice." Katara replied, her ocean eyes sparkling with the same savagery as the waves that had doused me only moments before. "I thought we taught you that long ago."

I waved my hand and shook my head again. "Look, neither of you would listen. Aang _needs_ us. And if I have to revert back to old tactics to make sure that he gets that help, I will. I'm not listening to your petty arguments when there is something much more important on the line."

"And will we ever find out what it is that Aang needs help with?" Sokka asked.

"In due time."

"You can't do this, Zuko!" Katara yelled. "You can't force us to leave our home, with no warning to Gran Gran."

I strode to the door before turning and smiling at her. "I'm the Firelord, Katara. I can do whatever I want."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Regardless of how much evil is destroyed, there is always a neverending pool of hatred that breeds evil again and again and again. Evil had been brought to its knees five years ago with the end of Firelord Ozai and the end of the 100 year war. But the boiling pot was brimming over again and the darkness was beginning to pool out. It was my duty to end it, to extinguish the flames before they spread. However, even the Avatar couldn't do it alone.

He had racked his brain thousands of times trying to see where he was going wrong, what was missing. He knew it was so close, nearly at his fingertips, but he couldn't reach it. The benders were disappearing. Someone was snatching them from their homes, their families, and they were never seen again. The cries for justice, for the Avatar to save them echoed in his ears. He had been able to do it once. Save them and save the world. Could he do it again? He gritted his teeth and placed his hands on either side of his head. If only he could stop all the voices maybe he could think. If only he could stop _her _voice…


End file.
